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South Sudan committed war crimes – HRW

South Sudanese forces are accused of having committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, killing and raping civilians during its offensive against rebels in Unity state, Human Rights Watch said in its latest report on the country.

The New York-based rights organisation said the army and allied militants from the Bul Nuer ethnic group forcibly displaced tens of thousands of people in Unity by attacking women, elderly, and children, while burning villages and stealing cattle.

South Sudan's government said any alleged rights violations were limited to "a few individuals" who will face justice in domestic courts. But Skye Wheeler, a researcher with Human Rights Watch told The Associated Press the attacks were "far more widespread and systematic to be blamed on a few rotten apples."

The report, “They Burned it All: Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in South Sudan’s Unity State,” is based on more than170 interviews in June and July with survivors and witnesses, and documents the killing of 60 people, including some by hanging or burning, and 63 rapes.

“Government-aligned forces carried out gruesome killings and widespread rapes and burned countless homes as they swept across large parts of Unity State,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at the organisation. “The devastating offensive in Unity State is the latest in a conflict characterized by shocking disregard for civilian life.”

HRW said it was “essential that investigations include the roles of commanding officers whose forces are implicated in the abuses”, adding that the investigation “should determine any criminal liability, on the basis of both direct and command responsibility, of Matthew Puljang and Thiab Gatluak Taitai, the deputy and commander of Division 4 SPLA forces of Unity State, respectively”.

“Women and girls are bearing the brunt of this brutal offensive as fighters target them for rape, abduction, beatings, and forced labor,” Bekele said. “Brutal attacks on fleeing civilians combined with widespread burning of villages, food, and other items that people need to survive suggests that the government’s aim was to forcibly displace people from their homes.”

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